Stormy Weekend

We had some violent weather pass through the area this weekend. A tornado touched down just southeast of us on Saturday. We spent a good hour in the basement...just to play it safe(including Little Willow, our cat). There were several flickers but no outages or damage.

Richard has a busy summer lined up. This month he will be in New York for five days at Binghamton University. He will be visiting a professor there who is interested in Curie High School as a satellite in the midwest to teach nano technology at a high school level. Looks like Rich will be providing Chicago Schools with another "first in the nation" program.

Rich is also going fishing with a large group of friends. They are doing a fly-in up in Canada for five days. It will be good for Rich to do this. These guys have been friends of his for years.

Then in August, Richard and I are going to Hawaii for twelve glorious days. We are celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary. It will feel so good to get away. It has been four years since we have gone on a vacation.

Now to speak about HYWT. I received a shipment of yarn this week from Conjoined Creations. They have phenomenal hand dyed yarns. They will also be sending me their Flat Feet yarn in the next few weeks. I will keep you posted as to when it arrives.

Mary Beth and I have a workshop this Thursday at one of the Lockport Libraries. I received an e-mail from the gal there and she said that 12 have signed up for the beginner crochet class. It will be fun and we are looking forward to it.

Well, I had better get things ready for tomorrow. I will write again soon.

Knit on!
Kathleen

Memorial Day Weekend

It is a beautiful morning here in Frankfort, Illinois. It is nice to have a long weekend to visit with family. Yesterday, my mom and her friend, Theresa came by for a cookout. We sat outside to visit and eat but it got pretty chilly out there and so we had to venture indoors to continue with our visit. It is hard to believe that it is the end of May, with the cool weather we have been having. I am not complaining however. I welcome this cooler weather and not looking forward to the heat and humidity of summers here.

Richard and I will be celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary in August and we are going to Hawaii in August. I can hardly wait! Rich has never been there and I had a very memorable visit there way back in 1977. It was a family vacation with my mom, dad, grandma and two of my knittin' sisters, Mary Beth and Patricia! We were there for eleven glorious days.

Richard and I are going to Mary Beth and Gerry's today for a cookout. I am looking forward to it. Tomorrow we plan on clearing out the area that will be the HYWT Studio! Hooray, FINALLY!! It looks like we will be opening soon!!!!!!!

Well, I had better get moving.

Have a memorable Memorial Day!
Kathleen

Inventory Keeps Growing!

I have added a new yarn vendor.  They are: www.conjoinedcreations.com .  They feature some VERY nice yarns for crocheting (an extraordinary eyelash yarn for Mary Beth's funky purses).  All of their yarns are hand dyed so no two are alike.  The also have a sock yarn called "Flat Feet".  It is very unique because it is not sold by skein, hank or ball, but rather a "flat of knitted yarn which is hand dyed.  You unravel it as you knit your socks...very portable.  I am creating a pattern for them, by the way and they will purchase my pattern!!!  

I am going to pick up two comfy chairs from Carol B on Saturday.  Then the next step is to clear out the related living area.  Rich's sister is going to pick up the furniture she wants in the beginning of June.

I want to have a Monday Night (Panera Knitters!) Knitting group as well as a Friday Night group.  My yarns, (Knitters magazine too) and accessories will be available for sale then.  I have updated the website and added a couple of other classes to the list.  The classes are by appointment only and all you have to do to sign up is send me an e-mail and we can set up a time for your class.   The classes will be payable only by cash or check...no credit card (to keep yarn prices down).

I also wanted to let you know that HYWT Studio will also be listed in the 2008 Knitters Shop Finder!!!  I can't wait to go to the Stitches Midwest in August!

Well, I better go and start dinner.

Talk to you soon and KNIT ON!
Kathleen 

Yarns Are In!

Wow!

The yarns are in and all inventoried. I am so excited. I have received lots of yarns plus patterns and accessories.

Now all I need to do is get the studio up and running. Carol B has donated two big comfy chairs for the studio but right now I have no room in the area and besides, I don't know how to get them here. We sold our van this fall and due to the rise in gas prices opted for a smaller vehicle.

I had a nice Mother's Day. My mom, sister Karen and her hubby Jim and Lara were here. I made a nice meal and we ate in the dining room. All fancy, with folded napkins and all. I miss Eric.

Dishes are done and everyone has left. Rich is grading papers and I am going to work on one of my knitting projects.

I will keep you up to date as to when the HYWT Studio will open. By the way, check out the website. It has been re-vamped. Tell me what you think.

Website: www.haveyarnwilltravel.homestead.com
Email: HYWTstudio@gmail.com

Kathleen

Yarns Are Arriving

I have received some of the accessories and will be receiving the Plymouth Yarns order by the end of this week. This is exciting. I only wish that the studio was ready to open. My sister in law has not picked up her portion of the estate so everything is on hold for the HYWT Studio to open until everything is moved out.

I have been very busy at work. Do you believe that last Thursday marked my being there for one year already? It is a very interesting job, but I have to admit...I miss the library and the kids. But life goes on and it is good.

I spoke to Eric yesterday and he is planning on coming home this summer. It will be so good to see him.

Lara had a job interview at Ulta. It is a Marketing job and it seems right up her alley. I hope she gets it.

Well, got to go and clean the kitchen. Talk to you soon!!

Kathleen

It's Friday!

I have so much to do today, I hardly know where to begin.  So far today I have reapplied for a new Tax ID number for HYWT.   Once that form was completed on-line (isn't the internet WONDERFUL) I proceeded to apply for an Illinois Business Income Tax.

Now I have begun to work on the Village of Frankfort General Business License and I had several questions while I was filling the form so I called them.  It seems there is a snag.  They are concerned about parking space for the Studio.  Now I worry that there will be some problem.  I am waiting for them to return my call.  Keep your fingers crossed.

I think what will save me however is that the business will be by appointment only...I sure hope so.

I will write more later.

Kathleen

It's Been Awhile...

I know, I know it has been a while. Shame on me!

Life has been very busy and I can hardly believe that it is the end of March. Before I know it the HYWT Studio will be opening its doors for busy knitters in the area.

I have ordered lots of nice yarns and accessories. Please remember that my finances are limited so my items will not be as many as I would like them to be. However, I will take special orders as we will have books from Needful Yarns, Plymouth, Southwest Trading Company and Norwegian Spirit Yarns. I also have contacts from the Knitting Fever.com website. Those yarns include Elsebeth LaVold, Debbie Bliss, Araucania, Noro and others.

We bought a new patio set this past weekend so on pleasant evenings when the Monday Night Knitting Group meets at the studio, we will be able to sit out there. It will be very relaxing... afterall that is what knitting does....relaxes you.

I am currently finishing up a sweater that I set aside last fall. It is a sleeveless sweater with some cablework in the front in a "Big Bird" yellow. The yarn I used is a Debbie Bliss Cotton Cashmere. I am piecing it together and should be done soon. I just started another pair of socks using an Araucania sock yarn in variegated colors. It is beautiful yarn.

Well, I had better close for now. I promise I won't wait so long to write next time. Please feel free to send comments.

K

Monday Evening

It's almost 10:30 pm and I'm still not too tired. I worked until 9:30, so I've only been home for a while. I thought it would be a good time to write a few lines on the blog. Kathy seems to write more often then me. I know when I talked to her last, she seems just as excited as me about HYWT. The idea she had about putting her sock pattern on that website was great! Hopefully that will advertise the business and I'm sure it has already.
I just got finished talking to my son Patrick, who is away at college. He is looking forward to coming home at "Spring Break", as well as I'm looking forward to having him home. I miss him! I plan on having all the family on "Easter Sunday". It will be nice to have a big get-together. My son Dan has this Friday off work and is coming home for the day. We will go out for a nice lunch. I still miss Kevin and Dan, even though they moved out over two years ago. They are both doing well with their jobs and attend graduate school part-time. It's easier for them to live near the loop.
I have the day off work tomorrow. I will probually visit my Mom for awhile. Usually I visit her once a week. She get's lonely living by herself and looks forward when myself, Kathy or my other sisters visit her. She doesn't drive, but her community has a bus for seniors, which takes them shopping and other places. It's nice for my Mom, because she has made many friends by using this service.
I'll close for now...till next time....Bye. Mary Beth

Wednesday Evening

Looks like we will never see Spring. I know that I have mentioned to many of you that I love snow, but this is getting to be too much. Oh well, before I know it I will be complaining about the hot weather.

Hey, I wanted to let you know that a link has been made on the www.knittingpatterncentral.com to my HYWT sock, listed on our website! Do you believe that we had 220 and counting visits on our website today because of this link?! WOW!!!!

Rich and I, several weeks ago finally retired our 1984 Zenith 25" television. We splurged and bought a 52" Sharp Aquos LCD with high definition. WOW! It has a beautiful picture. We never realized what we were missing. We are truly enjoying the nature programs.

I have been busy with different vendors for our little studio shop. It is very exciting. Once we are opened, the Lincoln-Way Stitch n Bitch group will meet here on Monday nights. I am looking forward to seeing the girls again. Work has been so hectic at Health PCP (but enjoyable) that when I get home, I don't want to head out again. This will be so nice...I will look forward to having coffee and treats with them.

Mary Beth and I don't have another workshop for awhile so that will give us a chance to work on the studio. If you have checked out our website lately, you will see that I have listed a few workshops that we will have at the studio once it is opened. We are always opened to other suggestions.

Well, I had better get the dishes done. Talk to you soon!

K

Wednesday Afternoon

It's Wednesday afternoon and I just got home from my Jazzercise class. I've been doing Jazzercise for the last 20 years and still enjoy going. It makes exercise a bit more fun because of the music and dancing. I still continue going with my friend Marisue. The difference between then and now is that we don't need the babysitters and we exercise 'low impact' rather than 'high impact' and we are not the youngest in the class!!

Last night Kathy and I had a workshop at 'Homer Glen' library. (My home town!!) I can remember spending much time there when my boys were very young! The class went well. 18 students attended. We taught knitting and also talked about the future 'HYWT studio'. Many of the students seemed as excited as us. We plan on having and 'OPEN HOUSE', soon. We will announce the date soon.

Tomorrow we have another workshop planned at Cresthill Library. We hope that it will be as successfull as last-nights class.

Saturday Morning

Well, yesterday was certainly a busy one.  I had the rep from Plymouth Yarn come out to visit.  I ordered plenty of yarn for the Open House of HYWT Studio.  I purchased a nice variety of yarns from Plymouth as well as Southwest Trading (Tofutsie yarn!) and Needful.  Therese England (the rep, who by the way, has two cats) believes that the studio will be
a big success because the nearest yarn shop is in Orland, and the line I will have in stock is much different than what they have shelved.  

Looks like the studio will be opening either the last Saturday in April or the first or second week in May.  I received the Open House postcards yesterday, as well.   They are so retro...I LOVE them!  If you want to get on the HYWT mailing list, e-mail me with your address, as the postcard will give you 10% off your purchase of yarn at the event.

The e-mail address to reach Have Yarn - Will Travel is:  hywtstudio@gmail.com

Now to get back to my morning ritual of looking out the patio window sipping my cup of Gevalia coffee.  It is a pretty morning...the sun is out.  But from what they say on the news, that won't last.  My mom and baby sister, Bernadette are coming over today for dinner and to watch a movie (or two) on our new TV.  

Rich and I watched the latest "Pirates of the Carribbean" in high definition last night.  WOW!!!  And yes, Carol...I was knitting!

Tomorrow, we are going to the Auto Show.  It will feel good to get out for the day.  I think we will go out for breakfast first and then head to the show.  

Well, I had better get moving here.  I have a full day ahead of me.  If you read this blog...I would sure love to hear from you!

Kathleen

Tuesday Morning

Time: 6:08am

I am sitting here this morning, drinking my coffee, collecting my thoughts.  This is my favorite time of day.  And there is nothing so enjoyable as that first sip of coffee in the morning, looking out my window and watching the sun rise.  It is a little early for the sun to rise, but I can see the outline of the houses across the lake, so it won't be long.

My mind is racing.  I am so excited about opening the studio.  Tis Friday, we are having a rep come out from Plymouth yarns.  She sells three other lines as well, so our customers will have a nice selection to choose from.  I will also have to shop and compare all the neat accessories that are needed to create those knitting and crocheting masterpieces.  Items like stitch holders, cable needles, counters, measuring tapes, and on and on.

Thursday is Valentine's Day, hopefully the weather will be nice.  Rich and I will probably go out to dinner, maybe Mary and Gerry would like to go as well.  I bought my mother the most beautiful mother-daughter necklace.  They promise she will get it on Thursday.  

As I look out the window, I can see red rays of the morning sun just peeking throught the horizon.  Perhaps it will be a little warmer today.  Ah!  "Morning has broken..." (Cat Stevens)

I had better get my things together for work.  It is said that I will be finally getting my own desk this week or next.

Talk to you soon!
Kathleen

Wired Monday Evening ---Mary Beth's 2nd Posting

It is such a cold and wintery evening. I've been home from work for a half hour or so and realize that I'm not really too tired, so I thought writing a few lines on the HYWT blog would be a time to unwind. I did accomplish my planned "to do's" today; before work; which were "no fun stuff", but that's life; "fun and work". I want to say that when Kathy and myself are teaching HYWT workshops, that it's both "fun and work", because teaching and meeting people are both. What I'm saying is that it's more FUN then work! Being around people of all ages that appreciate you is such a great feeling. Also, Kathy and I make sure that we go out for something to eat before our classes and ....."not having to make dinner....yeah!!"It's OK with us both; only kidding, Gerry and Rich!
My message tonight is "Life Has It's "Ups and Downs"; and mine is now so much...."Up". Thanks Kath..for asking me to me your partner! We can make this a great success and have fun at the same time and see each other more; which I realize that I've missed so much!

Mary Beth

Below Zero!

Wow!  The cold weather is  something else.  I am so glad that I did all of my shopping yesterday.  Today, I am making a big pot of chili, knitting and watching some programs on our new HD TV.  Last weekend, we finally retired our 1984 Zenith 25" console TV.  We bought a 52" Sharp Aquos LCD - HD to replace it.  On Friday, we had Comcast come in and hook up high definition.  The picture is gorgeous.

Lara came by yesterday, she is leaving for Costa Rica next weekend with Chris and three of their friends.  They will have a wonderful time.

Well, Mary and I did a lot of talking on Friday and we are thinking of having the open house for the HYWT Studio either the last Saturday in April or the first in May.  I send out an application for us to become members of TNNA.  Very exciting!  

Mary Beth and I also ordered new business cards as well as postcards that we will use for the open house announcement.  

Well, I had better do my dishes and get that chili started.

Talk to you soon!

Kathleen

Mary Beth's First Posting

Hi..It's the other 'Stitchin Sister' here. Just got home from Kathy's house. We talked alot about our future plans for the new 'Have Yarn Will Travel' Studio. We ordered new business cards, worked on the website; etc. Kathy also made a nice lunch for the two of us. I'm home now and happy to be off work for a couple of days. I work part-time in retail and have been working more hours than I'm use to. I'm fortunate like Kathy to have a caring husband and three wonderful sons whom I'm so proud of. I enjoy spending time with my family, my part-time job, jazzercise and reading. I'm so much looking forward spending time with 'Have Yarn Will Travel' Studio business and seeing more of my sister Kathy. We are going to make a great team!!

Friday Morning

More snow is on the way...perfect knitting weather. Mary and I had a workshop last night at Lockport Library. It went well and we succeeded at what we came there to do...teach someone how to knit.

I feel blessed...I am a lucky lady for sure. I have a wonderful husband, son and daughter who I love with all my heart. And I have my mother who seems so happy these days. The passed few years have been rough for her with losing her husband, and being so ill. But she is a tough cookie and got through it all. We are so proud of her.

Mary is coming over today and we are going to work on the website as well as talk about what we really want to do with the studio. Calling the village is on the agenda. We need to find out what the restrictions are on having a home-based business.

Well, I think I am going to close for now and knit for awhile. I will try to get a picture of the progress on my sweater and put it on the blog.

Till tomorrow...happy Knitting!
Kathleen

Snow is on its way!

Bring out that knitting or crocheting.  Perfect weather for that!

Mary Beth and I will be doing a workshop at Lockport Library tomorrow night for teens.  We are looking forward to that.  I received a new shipment of yarn yesterday, so the teens will have a nice selection of yarn to choose from in their kits for their first project.

I am getting excited about opening the studio.  I need to clear out the related living area of the house where my mother and father-in-law resided.  I believe this is what Olga would have wanted. The shopping portion of the studio will offer vintage patterns and I will try to locate the vintage yarns as well to go along with those patterns from the 70's and 80's, if you desire.

I am also excited about this whole concept because I will be able to spend more time with my sister, Mary Beth.  She is my best friend, I love her and after all she is my STITCHIN' Sister.  A true dream come true... would be if my sister, Karen who is an avid knitter and lives in the Champaign-Urbana area, my sister, Patty and her daughter, Claire who live in Massachusetts and both are knitting all the time, would join the "Stitchin' Sister" kick off.  Hey, who knows...we could have a franchise in Massachusetts and in Champaign-Urbana!?  

:)

Well, gotta go!

Talk to ya later!  ANY COMMENTS?! Send them my way!!!

Kathleen

Fogged In!

Hello, Everyone!

While watching the Super Bowl last night, I did finish Rich's flip-top mittens.  My next project is a beautiful sweater found on knitty.com
www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter07/PATTabotanicity.html
I am using the yarn it calls for (Zitron TrekkingXXL) and it is using a method that is new to me.  It is requiring you to use two circular needles.  It is tricky at first, but as the pattern moves along, it is quite smooth.  
Well, I received information from Plymouth Yarns.  They will be our wholesalers for our Studio, as they are for the knitting workshops.  
I am very excited about having the studio/yarn shop.
I received a short reply from my sister in Massachusetts today.  She mentioned that if she lived closer by she would join in with Mary and I in this new venture.  WOW!  Can you imagine...THREE Robertson girls running the place.  That would be AWESOME!

Well, dinner won't cook without me, I better get going.  The weather is very foggy, damp and we are expecting another major snowstorm tomorrow!

Kathleen

Welcome!

Welcome to the "Have Yarn - Will Travel" Studio blog.  Our little business of teaching, children, teens and adults the fine art of knitting and crocheting has been growing by leaps and bounds!

"Have Yarn - Will Travel" has been in existence since November 2005.  We have taught hundreds the fine art of knitting and on occasion, crocheting in the Northern Illinois public libraries.

Originally, the company started out with instructors, Kathleen and Carol.  We started the business very small, but has expanded.  Sadly, Carol's husband accepted a new job in Canada, so Carol had to leave the business.  Kathleen was crushed by the news and the idea of not only losing her best friend, but it seemed as though Have Yarn - Will Travel was going to perish and no longer exist.

Kathleen thought about this for days and then thought of a terrific idea...why not ask Mary Beth, your wonderful, beautiful sister!  And she accepted gladly.

Now, are they not only busy as ever with workshops that are scheduled well into the fall of 2008 but they have decided to open a studio!  The studio will provide an area to conduct lessons as well as sell yummy yarns and all of the accessories to create masterpieces!